Dear Me.

Dear Me,
I know I have been so much harder on you than I should have been. I have a tendency to put other people's hearts ahead of yours. I quiet you when you try to tell me that you are hurting. And I bring people back into your life, that sadly, I know will hurt you again. I don't listen to what it is you really need to make your soul smile. I let the negativity that other people allow in their own lives seep into your mind. And I let it work against you. I don't give you credit for all of the truly amazing things that you do. Instead, I focus on all of the "mistakes" you've made. All of the things that you could have done better. I allow other people to create dreams and goals for you, instead of letting you follow your own dreams. I am your worst critic, when, in fact, I should be your biggest supporter. Bottom line, I haven't been treating you the way I should.
But know this. You ARE loved. You ARE amazing. You ARE blessed. You deserve to smile. You deserve to shine.

Love,

You

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Just a Thought...

                "If you want more love, why don't you say so..."
What would happen if instead of bringing negative attention to ourselves by throwing out hate, we requested love in life? Instead of holding on to anger and heartache, we only spoke of laughter and love. What would happen if we live a life of love instead of a life of anger?
Just a thought...

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"I Can" Can

                 I recently saw a post on Pinterest and thought it was the most amazing idea for helping to cultivate a positive self esteem in your child. The "I CAN" can. This would be such a simple and amazing project to do with your kids. While decorating your can, you can spend time talking to your child/chlidren about the things that they do that make you proud. Talk to them about the good choices that they make in life. Once the can is done, you can explain to your child that people do makes mistakes from time to time. But that it is important to just try your best. Have your child write down (or write it for them if they are too young) all the things that they can do. Anything that they are proud of. Try to let them think it through first before offering up suggestions. This will allow you to see what your child thinks are her/his strengths. If they are having a hard time coming up with ideas, help them out. Once you have come up with enough "cans" to fill your can, explain to your child that any time they are feeling down, upset, or discouraged they should pick out a "can" and read it out loud. Have them keep picking out "cans" until they realize their potential and are feeling better about themselves. (Go ahead and throw a few surprise ones in their too!)

This is definitely a project I will be working on this weekend with my daughters! Pictures to follow soon!

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Thank You Miss Betty Rocker!

          Making big changes in my life, and one of them is getting back in shape! After seeing a friend of mine post about the "Rocktober 30 Day Challenge", I was intrigued. I have been fighting to find the motivation and the direction to get me back to where I want to be. And after doing a little research, I decided, what the hell! So, I signed up for this amazingly FREE challenge. I am only 2 days in and I can barely walk. But I love it!

     Not only does Betty Rocker give you an amazing break down (PDF file) of the work outs, she give your tips and support to help you along your journey. When I signed up for this challenge I received an awesome and encouraging email explaining all the benefits of taking on this challenge. I immediately "liked" her Facebook page (Betty Rocker)  and I joined the "The Rocktober 30 Day Challenge" Facebook page. I know it is only the 2nd day, but this Facebook page has already been so inspiring. There are so many women (and men) posting their goals, their dreams, and their stumbling blocks. Its awesome to see that there are so many other people out there who struggle with the same things I do. Furthermore, it is so inspiring to see all of the before and after pictures that are posted. To see that changes really can be made. To see that this worked for others and it will work for me. More updates to come. And hopefully, I will have some amazing before and after photos to share after this first 30 days.

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I'm Just Getting Started...

        I absolutely love it when a seemingly normal event can have such a tremendous effect on your life. You wake up one morning, pretty sure of where you are heading and what you need to do to get there, and the next thing you know, everything changes. I guess I should back up a little bit.

 
   This is my Melanie Rose. She is the younger of my two daughters. Melanie is the sweetest, silliest, most loving little girl... until the attitude surfaces. This little girl has more attitude than any other I have ever met. And she can dish all out with the sweetest smile on her face. A smile so bright, it makes you forget that you are even upset.
   
    Melanie just turned 5. We start planning parties months before hand. I find, especially with Melanie, her theme seems to change from day to day. So I like to do my research (Thank you Pinterest) ahead of time, so I can have time to "DIY" it up. And for the past few months we have gone back and forth between a few themes. About a month before her birthday, Melanie finally narrowed it down to 3 party themes. The first theme, was a Brave Party. She was excited about that theme for about 2 days. So our "Brave" board is fairly limited (Jessica Michelle's Brave Pinterest Board).  Once we decided that Brave was out of the picture, Melanie decided that she would go with a Barbie theme (Jessica Michelle's Barbie Pinterest Board) rather then a Little Mermaid themed party. Figuring that she would probably change her mind to the Little Mermaid Party, I continued to pin away for both themes (Jessica Michelle's Little Mermaid Pinterest Board). And, just as I expected. With about a week and a half to spare, she changed that pretty little mind of hers. But, at least I was ready!

       With two little girls, it is definitely a challenge to give them everything they desire (in moderation). When it comes to my daughter's birthday days, I always try to give them the birthdays that I wish I could have had growing up. I would much rather spend money on gifts, then on the food and the decorations. So, I try to DIY it up as much as possible. Some say I am over the top... to those people I say, "I'm just getting started".

       Here are a few pictures from Mellie's party. DIY tutorials on the streamers and the "poof balls" (as Mellie called them) coming soon! I had so much fun making these decorations and setting up everything for the party. But, what really made everything worth it, was Mellie saying to me that everything looked so "magical". Every time the balloons would get caught in the wind, the girls would say that fairies were carrying the balloons through the air.

                            {Photo credit Dangie Grathoff - http://dangiemariephotos.wordpress.com/)

                            {Photo credit Dangie Grathoff - http://dangiemariephotos.wordpress.com/)

                          {Just me and my IPhone -follow me on Instagram @ _Jessica_Goetke_)

      I'm definitely a DIY kind of girl. If I can do. I will. And, if I can't... then oh well, there is someone else who can. I fully admit that I am one of MANY women, who spend way too much time on Pinterest. And that doesn't bother me in the least. I definitely tried out a few of the projects I found on Pinterest for Mellie's party. Some turned out amazingly... and some, well, some didn't happen. But at the end of the day, I had one very happy, cupcake loving, little birthday girl.

    After all of the planning, decorating, and running around I realized something. This is what I love. I love the stress of it all. I love creating magical days for people. For months I had been searching for a new career, but nothing was jumping out at me. Nothing was exciting me. Until now. I realized, this is what I want to do with my life. I want to create lasting memories. I want to help people be able to look back and remember these moments as some of the most magical moments they have ever experienced. So... I am going back to school to be an event planner. And I couldn't be happier.

                  

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